SMU to Honor Baker With Tower Center Award

The ceremony is scheduled at 5:30 p.m.

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382273 06: Former Secretary of State and Bush Campaign Advisor James Baker III responds to a court ruling November 21, 2000 at the state capitol building in Tallahassee, Florida. The Florida Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that hand-recounted ballots can be accepted by the state for another six days in the U.S. presidential election, a crucial victory for Democratic Vice President Al Gore in his bid to win the White House. (Photo by Alex Wong/Newsmakers)

Former Secretary of State James Baker is to receive the Medal of Freedom from the Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University.

The medal will be awarded at a ceremony Wednesday afternoon at McFarlin Auditorium on the SMU campus.

Baker is the eighth recipient of the award made by the Tower Center, named after former Sen. John Tower. Previous recipients have been former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, in whose administration Baker served. Other recipients were former first Lady Laura Bush, ex-British prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair and Sen. John McCain.

The Tower Center presents the Medal of Freedom every two years to someone "who has furthered the cause of freedom throughout the world."